The LaSalle Group recently broke ground on Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood, a Alzheimer’s and memory care assisted living community. From left, Ron Dagley, The Betz Companies; Mitchell Warren, LaSalle Group; ... more

Photo: Bruce Bennett 2010 and beyond

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The groundbreaking of Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood shows the need for memory care facilities. The 25,000-square-foot Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood will have the capacity to serve up to 46 residents. From left, Mitchell Warren, president of the LaSalle Group; Jason Glover, director of Houston Development for the LaSalle Group; Steve Meacher, vice president of development for the LaSalle Group; Matthew Warren, regional manager of Autumn Leaves; and John Barbee, vice president of construction for Lake Superior Contracting. less

The groundbreaking of Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood shows the need for memory care facilities. The 25,000-square-foot Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood will have the capacity to serve up to 46 residents. From left, ... more

Photo: Bruce Bennett 2010 and beyond

Image 3 of 3

Alzheimer’s care facility breaks ground in Spring

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The LaSalle Group Inc. broke ground on its third specialized Alzheimer’s and memory care assisted living community in the Houston area Tuesday, July 13, in an effort to support a growing patient population.

Located at 6327 Cypresswood Drive in Spring, Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood will help meet the demand of dedicated Alzheimer’s beds that exceeds the current supply in the Houston area.

“We will continue to develop in the Houston market,” said Mitchell Warren, president of the Dallas-based developer. “Our partners and investors recognize the pent-up need for our dedicated services that cater to this specific population, and based on our in-depth market research results, we are committed to continuing our growth pattern in this market.”

Alzheimer’s disease, a fatal and progressive brain disease, affects more than 5.3 million Americans. Currently there is no cure, and medications do not stop or reverse the disease. As the most common form of dementia, it accounts for more than 60 percent of dementia cases.

The family-owned and operated LaSalle Group, with its subsidiaries and affiliates, develops, builds, manages and owns specialized assisted living residences for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory impairment, as well as other specialized real estate properties throughout the United States.

“Being a family business, we try to bring a homelike environment to the community,” said Matthew Warren, regional director of Autumn Leaves.

Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood should be finished and accepting residents by late March or early April of 2011. It will be the 15th property developed by LaSalle over the past 10 years. Currently, the company operates nine Autumn Leaves communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth market and three in the Greater Chicago area.

The first Houston property to open, Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands, will welcome residents in August. Construction on the second Houston property, Autumn Leaves of Riverstone, is underway in Missouri City and scheduled to be completed in early Spring 2011.

The 25,000-square-foot, $9 million Autumn Leaves of Cypresswood facility will be built by Lake Superior Contracting, LaSalle’s in-house, full-service construction division. The company will coordinate and manage the design and construction of the new property to ensure the distinctive, research-based structural design attributed to all of LaSalle’s Autumn Leaves communities is in place.

Sister firm Constant Care Management Company will manage and oversee all of the day-to-day operations once the community opens.

“The thing that separates us from most of the competition is that the building was designed especially for memory care,” said Wendy Whitaker, community relations manager.

Autumn Leaves will have the capacity to serve up to 46 residents while similar memory care facilities in the area have a limit of 16 due to licensing, Whitaker added.

Even though there may be one caregiver for up to six people, administrators are trained as caregivers and will help out during their work day.

“Most of the people that work with us had family members with dementia, which has a profound effect on you,” said Whitaker, whose mother had Alzheimer’s disease.

The company plans to continue its current expansion into the Houston market and is looking at Clear Lake, Pearland and South and West Houston as locations for new communities over the next three years.

“Baby boomers coming along have increased the need for these types of facilities,” Warren said. “We are one of the few companies that are getting financed to build buildings right now. A lot of other companies have run into trouble with the downturn in the economy.”